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Welcome to the blog of the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences at the University of Northampton. This will keep you up to date with both student and staff activities.

The Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences includes staff with interests in biological sciences, conservation, ecology, environmental sciences, environmental statistics, geography and waste management. We offer a range of degree programmes and have a number of postgraduate research students. For more information about studying with us please visit http://www.northampton.ac.uk/.

Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Adventure Bears and the great outdoors...

Dr John Horton, Dr Faith Tucker and Dr Michelle Pyer recently hosted a conference on ‘The Great Outdoors? Children, Young People and
Families in Natural and Rural Spaces’.

The conference provided an opportunity for academics from a range of disciplines (including geography, education,
law and psychology) to share their research.The conference attracted researchers from as far afield as Ohio and
Wollongong.

Topics discussed included the commodification of woodlands, walking as a way of connecting with
nature, Forest Schools, and outdoor playspace.Prof Helen Lomax (Institute for Health and Wellbeing) gave a workshop on
using visual methods to explore children’s use of outdoor spaces.Tracy Hayes (University of Cumbria) ran a
session on using story-telling as a means of exploring connections to nature. Tracy explained how she uses 'adventure bears' to encourage children to talk about their experiences.

The
‘adventure bears’ used by Tracy Hayes (University of Cumbria)as a means of
encouraging story-telling